Golf club head protector



.March 5, 1946. 1 sc oss 2,396,021

GOLF CLUB HEAD PROTECTOR Filed Oct. 10, 1944 Patented Mar. 5, i946 GOLF CLUB HEAD PROTECTOR Irvin Ellis Schlos s, Towson, Md., assignor of onehalf to Abraham Sohn, Baltimore, Md.

Application October 10, 1944, Serial No. 558,021

3 Claims.

This invention is directed to a cover and protective unit for golf clubs and more particularly the heads of such clubs wherein the club heads are completely housed and protected, except when in actual use while at the same time being readily and conveniently selected and withdrawn for use when desired. v

Conventionally, golf clubs are promiscuously carried in a bag open at the top beyond which the heads of the clubs project for convenience in selection and withdrawal. The metal parts of the clubs, that is, the heads, are completely exposed I when the clubs are in the bag and generally are in contact one with the other. In withdrawing a particular club from the bag for use, there is more or less rubbing contact with the heads of the non-selected clubs resulting after a period of use in scratching and possible otherwise marring of the desired correct formation of the heads. The promiscuous assembly of the clubs in the usual bag requires time in their selection while their exposed condition frequently results in their being affected by the elements.

The primary object of the invention is, therefore, the provision of a housing and protective cover unit in which the clubs usually carried in the conventional bag are placed before or after the clubs are assembled in the bag, and by the use of such unit, clubs and more particularly the club heads are completely segregated and pro-- tected against contact one with the other; while at the same time permitting free and convenient withdrawal of a desired club wholly free of contact with the head of any other club while maintaining the non-selected clubs completely housed o far as the heads are concerned and entirely free of contact one with the other or with the club being withdrawn. A further object of th invention is the provision of a golf club protecting unit including a single container divided by interior partitions to provide separate compartments each of a size to receive and protect a golf club head and part of the adjacent stafi of a single golf club, each compartment being wholly closed against all other compartments and having an opening for the introduction and withdrawal of the club with the opening having suitable fastening means to close or open the same at will and each compartment preferably marked externally to indicate the type of club in that compartment.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved golf club protective unit; I

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same showing in dotted outline golf clubs in the respective compartments; 7

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the improved protective unit;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the outer casing on the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective View showing a main and V-form section and a partition in separated relation;

Figure 6 is a broken diagrammatic view showing the connected relation of the adjacent main section and adjacent V-iorm section.

The improved golf club head cover and protector is constructed of appropriate material, preferably flexible, and may be waterproofed or otherwise externally protected.

The protectiveunit includes an outer cover section I made up of strips of selected material, corresponding in number to the number of golf clubs for which the unit is to be used.

The cover section I is made up of main strips 2, corresponding in number to the number of golf clubs for which the unit is to be used,.and upper strips 3. The main strips are of a predetermined length slightly downwardly convergent and with their upper edges 2' cut at anangle to a line directly transverse the strip. The upper strips 3 have their lower edges 3 cut at an angle complementary to the angle 2 of the strip 2 so that when assembled, these edges 2' and 3 are-substantially parallel. The main strips 2 are stitched or otherwise secured to together along their longitudinal edges, the upper strips 3 being similarly connected. The upper portion of the cover section I including the strips 2 is then united to the upper section of the cover including the strips 3 by arranging the upper section so that the per. tions of the meeting edges which extend below the meeting edge of an adjacent upper strip 3 will byreason of the inclined formation of the lower edges of the strips 3 project materially below the adjacent end of the next upper strip 3, as indicated at 4' in Figure 6.

A simila construction follows the connection of the main strips one with the other in that the uppermost portion of one main strip projects materially above the upper edge of the adjacent main strip due to the inclined upper edge 2', as indicated at 5. These projecting portions 4' of the upper section and 5 of the lower section are seinclined edges 2' and 3' spaced apart. Thus, at

each corner of the cover section the upper section involving the strips 3 is directly united to the main section as clearly indicated in Figure 6.

The stitching or other securing means extends throughout the longitudinal edges of the strips so that when completed the outer casing is of slightly downwardly tapering form in cross-section for the greater portion of its length and terminates at its upper end in a gradually reduced cross section leading to a point 6 defining the upper end of the casing. Partitions l are secured inwardly of the strips 2 being united by stitching or otherwise to the inturned section of the strips 2 as indicated more particularly in Figure 3. The partitions I have a width slightly lII'GXCBSS of the width of the strips 2 and each partition is formed in outline shape to correspond with that of the strip to which it is attached, except that the partition terminates short of the upper portion of the conical shape of the strip 2 as shown more particularly in Figure 2.

The partitions 1 thus form pockets 8 open at the top and bottom with each pocket wholly independent of every other pocket and defined by a partition 1 and the outer corresponding strip 2 of the casing I.

Whenthe respective sections making up the casing are united as described and as illustrated in Figure 6, the upper edges 2 of the strips 2 and the lower edges 3' of the strips 3 are spaced slightly apart and inclined transversely of the casing to define an opening to permit the introduction and withdrawal of clubs. The edges of the opening may be bound and are preferably, as here shown provided with a zipper fastener 10, the operating member I i of which may be and preferably is, provided with a ta l2 on which may be indicated the character of the club included in the particular pocket. In order to avoid interference in the use of the zipper operating member and to facilitate the entrance and. withdrawal of the clubs, the openings 9 are inclined with respect to the transverse line of the strip in which the opening is formed. Thus, one end of each opening 9 in any two adjacent strips will have one end starting from similar edges of adjacent strips 2, preferably slightly in the conical portions of such strips with such openings continued transverse a. particular strip 2 at a slight downward inclination to the longitudinal edge of the strip.

In this way immediate adjacent ends of the fzipper assembly are on vertical oifset planes for convenience in handling the opening and in applying or withdrawing the golf club.

The protective cover and unit is illustrated here as formed for the use of four conventional clubs,

such as a driver, a brassie, a, spoon and a four wood. It will, of course, be understood that the unit may be made for two clubs or three clubs and if necessary for the reception of a, greater number of clubs though this is ordinarily not desirable.

The golf clubs are inserted by opening a particular entrance 9, ordinarily that marked for the particular club and the club is inserted through this opening by inserting the handle end of the staff in the compartment and continuing its insertion until the head of the club indicated at l3 in Figure 2 can be placed beneath the upper part of the protector. The protector as a whole is preferably provided with a loop hand hold H! for convenience in handling the same. The opening is then closed and the club or all clubs inserted in the protective unit are completely housed, may be selectively withdrawn in a simple convenient obvious manner and the manipulation of a club in either applying or withdrawing the same from the protector entirely avoids contact with the head of any other club and thus avoids possible injury to the head of the club.

The protector is not designed or intended as a means for carrying the clubs, and it is understood that ordinarily when the clubs placed in the usual bag in which the heads and upper portions of the staffs project above the head of the bag, the improved and protective cover unit forming the subject of this invention will be applied to the clubs in a manner described before the clubs are applied in the bag. The length of the protector and cover unit is such as to efiectivelycover the golf club heads and for this purpose that portion of the unit which covers in part the staffs of the clubs may or may not extend to the upper end of the conventional golf club bag.

While preferring to form the upper section involving the strips 3 and the main section involving the strips 2 of separate parts and securing them together in the manner described it is obvious that if desired these strips 2 and 3 defining any one wall of the casing may be made integral and the openings 9 formed by appropriately cutting such material to provide an entrance.

I claim:

l. A golf club head cover and protective unit including a casing made up of a plurality of strips having independent upper conical ends and otherwise of uniform width, the strips being secured together throughout their longitudinal edges, a series of partitions within the casing, each approximately corresponding in size and shape to the shape of the casing strips and defining with the casing strips a series of independent compartments open at the bottom and closed at the top, each casing strip being formed near its upper closed end with a transverse slit to provide an entrance opening to the compartment defined by that strip and means for closing each opening.

2.- A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the openings incline with respect to the transverse line of the casing strip in which they are formed.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the meeting edges of the respective casing strips are stitched together to leave inwardly extending projections of such strips and wherein the edges of adjacent partitions are secured to the inwardly extending projections of the casing strips.

IRVIN ELLIS SCHLOSS. 

